The History of Alcoholics Anonymous
The
Alcoholics Anonymous Preamble
Copyright
© The
A.A.
Grapevine, Inc.
Alcoholics
Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share
their experience, strength and hope with each other
that they may solve their common problem and help others
to recover from alcoholism.
The
only requirement for membership is a desire to stop
drinking. There are no dues or fees for A.A. membership;
we are self-supporting through our own contributions.
A.A. is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics,
organization or institution; does not wish to engage
in any controversy; neither endorses nor opposes any
causes. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help
other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.
In practicing our Traditions, The AA Grapevine, Inc.
has neither endorsed nor are they affiliated with
AA-meetings.com.
The Grapevine®, and AA Grapevine® are registered
trademarks of The AA Grapevine, Inc.
In
The Beginning
The story of the history of Alcoholics Anonymous
begins way before its actual founding. -Mitchell
K.
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Why Study AA
History?
In a quote attributed to Carl Sandburg, he
summed it up when he wrote; "Whenever a civilization or
society declines (or perishes) there is always one condition
present - they forgot where they came from." -Mitchell
K.
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Correcting
Errors -Names, dates and other "facts,"
backed
up by solid documentation show that some
of the historical data contained within the pages of AA
Conference-Approved literature is not accurate. Other
data even sheds new light upon AA's History which was
hitherto unknown. -Mitchell
K.
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Let's
Ask Bill W.
This series was compiled by Jim B. These
excerpts from various talks and articles by and on Bill
W. reveal a wealth of the thinking and insight of one
of the co-founder's of Alcoholics Anonymous.
A
New Approach to Psychotherapy in Chronic Alcoholism
"One powerful factor is that of self-preservation.
These ex-alcoholics frequently find that unless they spend
time helping others to health they cannot stay sober themselves."
-by
W. D. Silkworth M. D.
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In AA’s
First Five Years
"In the early days of AA things were
really different. For five years there was no Big Book.
The only way to communicate with other people was to go
and tell them, so that’s what we did." -Lois
W.
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Dr. Bob's Last Major
Talk
"Although a good many of you have heard
or have read about the inception of A.A., probably there
are some who haven't. From that brief story, there are
things to be learned. So, even at the risk of repetition,
I would like to relate exactly what did happen in those
early days." -Dr.
Bob
A Fragment
of History
"So far as people were concerned, the
main channels of inspiration for our Steps were three
in number - the Oxford Groups, Dr. William D. Silkworth
of Townes Hospital and the famed psychologist, William
James, called by some the father of modern
psychology." -Bill
W.
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